


Don't Trust The Internet

by aliensaucers



Category: Phandom
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Spooky Week, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7861219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensaucers/pseuds/aliensaucers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spooky Week: Day One. Youtubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester are about to play the first Halloween-themed game of the week when something with the .exe file Phil downloaded goes wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Trust The Internet

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this last year and originally posted it on Wattpad, but I wanted to post on here as well.

It was the week of Halloween. Daniel James Howell sat down at the computer desk in the upstairs office. Stretching his arms forward, he turned the camera on and waited for the red light to start blinking.  
"Phil! get in here, I've started recording!" he yelled, his voice echoing throughout the rest of the apartment. Sighing, he turned in his chair so he was facing the couch and looked at the decorations Phil had put up the previous day. The mask that was sent in by a fan lay on the top of the couch, and fake cobwebs were spread all over the wall. Dan thought he saw movement from the corner of his eye, but soon forgot when he heard the loud footsteps of his best friend, Philip Michael Lester, resonate from the staircase.  
"Took you long enough." Dan greeted Phil in his usual sarcastic manner. He smiled at his friend to let him know he was joking, and turned his chair back to the screen. Phil sat down in his chair and looked at the camera.

"Hi!" Dan greeted the camera cheerily, giving his audience a small, two-fingered salute.

"Hello, DanandPhilGAMES shadows!" Phil directed to the camera at the same time. They both laughed, and Phil shrugged his shoulders, as if indicating that he was running out of ideas to call their viewers. They turned off the light for total immersion and used Dan's phone as a flashlight.  
"So, for Day One of Spooky Week," Dan began, "Phil picked out the game. I honestly have no idea what it is, and I'm hoping he didn't download another fan-recommended .exe file onto my computer." Dan's eye widened when his statement was received with silence. He laughed quietly to relieve the tension, and handed the keyboard to Phil.  
"So what are we playing today, Phil?" He asked, silently praying it wasn't another Sonic-themed game.  
"Oh, it's a Zelda game!" Phil replied cheerily, and opened a small shortcut from the lower left hand corner of the screen. The screen lit up with bright green, and both friends flinched from the sudden brightness in the room. Feeling as if someone was breathing down his neck, Dan shivered and hurriedly whipped his head around, hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt.  
"What is it, Dan?" Phil asked, his large smile melting slightly from his face. Dan scanned the dark room behind them both, certain that he had seen a rustle of movement from the corner of the room.

"Nothing." Dan replied, facing back at the computer screen. Phil looked at him doubtedly, but clicked the START button on the screen. Suddenly, the screen turned black, causing the two of them to jump in their seats. Immediately they both started laughing. The screen turned slightly grey, filling the room with a low light. Dan's laughter suddenly changed to screams as he looked in the camera's flip-screen and saw a large figure looming behind Phil.

"What?" Phil yelled, putting his hand on Dan's arm to calm him. "What is it, Dan?" Dan looked in Phil's direction, but instead of looking into his friend's eyes, looked at the figure behind him. He grabbed his Kanye West coffee mug and flung it at the shadow. Phil shouted loudly at Dan, scared of what his friend may have been looking at. He turned around and shrieked at the sight of the giant shadow leaning over him. It wailed loudly in return, and took a more solid-looking form. It morphed slowly into a human figure wearing a long hat, a sword, and a shield. Dan and Phil both screamed until they were hoarse as the monstrosity became a grotesque black figure that resembled Link, the main character of the game on the computer screen. It grabbed the sword in its right hand, and with one small movement, stabbed at Phil. Phil cried in shock and realization as his chest dissipated into a thin black smoke.

"Dan," Phil whispered, his voice strained with pain and grief. "Goodbye, Dan. Thank you."  
His eyes welled with tears, and he gripped Dan's shoulder until he completely melted into dark mist and dust.  
  
"No!" Dan screamed with all his might, his voice filled with fear, confusion, anger, and countless other feelings. His head pulsed, and he stared at the spot where his best friend once sat. He shifted his gaze to the shadow Link.  
"You." he snarled at the creature. "You killed Phil. My best friend." He felt a lump rise in his throat as he grabbed Phil's chair and threw it with all of his strength at the disgusting form that took his best friend's life. The Link deflected the chair with its shield and advanced closer to Dan.  
"You're going to regret everything!" Dan screeched, teeth gritted, seething. He glanced at his camera, and grabbed a cable from the desk. He plugged it in and opened Youtube. While he did this, he busied the creature by throwing everything in his reach at it. The pitch black silhouette blocked each object with its shield. Dan quickly pressed "upload" on the screen, titled the video "What Happened", then turned back to the monster, a manic smile spread across his face, but he wasn't feeling the remotest bit of joy. All he felt was revenge. 

"Now everyone will know what happened to Phil, and what will probably happen to me. There's evidence." He laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. He knew what had to happen now. It was kill or be killed. He thought of his family, Phil's family, their fans, and their friends. He still had a will to live.  
He lifted his own chair, and tossed it forcefully in Link's direction. He missed, but hit and broke the window instead. The monster shrieked from the sudden blast of sunlight, and shrunk down to the floor. Noticing this, Dan immediately turned the light on in the office. The shadow disappeared completely, its screams echoing throughout the apartment. Dan collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath. His gasps soon turned to sobs as he realized what all had happened. He staggered to the computer and quickly deleted the Zelda program. He fell over again, and choked on the lump rising in his throat. He noticed his phone face-down on the carpet, flashlight still shining, and reached for it, his arms shaking. He groaned at the sight of the cracks splitting the solid black screen. Turning it on, he dialed the three memorable digits: 999. Fresh tears began to run down his face as he began to speak.

"My friend... he's dead... a thing... it killed him... I need help.... please... Phil's my best friend... please hurry." He stuttered between sobs. He stayed there, lying on the floor until he heard sirens and a knocking at the door. He lifted his head weakly, but didn't stand up. Crashing sounded from below him, and he gripped the carpet, as if attempting to pull the people up the stairs. He wept, his tears absorbed by the carpet. The door behind him swept open and people crowded around him. Dan began to see a black fuzz in the edges of his vision, and he began to feel drowsy as the black grew. He began feeling a falling sensation, and he was overcome by dizziness when he finally let consciousness escape his grasp.  
\-----  
TWO WEEKS LATER  
Dan sat down on his couch in the living room, staring at his blank laptop screen. He hadn't uploaded a video since the event. He knew that he was going to have to go back upstairs to the office eventually. He turned on the laptop screen and signed into Twitter for the first time since he had to tell everyone the news about Phil. About Phil's death. Taking a deep breath, he checked his mentions. Almost all of the icons were solid black, excepting a few blue ones. Blue, Phil's favorite color. Dan felt a small tear roll down his cheek as he began a new tweet.  
"staying off the internet for a while to regroup. see you guys."  
He sighed as he sent out the tweet to the world, then closed his laptop again. It was noon, but he suddenly felt tired. Would he ever get over it? He chuckled softly, his mouth forming a slight smile. He'd need to get over it. For Phil.  
Because Phil was his best friend. And Phil would never want Dan to be unhappy. Ever. Straightening from the slouch he'd been maintaining for days, Dan stood up and went to his room. He changed into a solid black shirt and black jeans, then straightened his hobbit hair. He turned on his phone and stared at the broken screen. Who would he call? Louise? Cat? Martyn? Dan sighed and turned the screen off, slipping the phone into his pocket.  
Standing up, Dan walked straight into the office, not hesitating until the only separation between him and the room was a wooden door. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The room was just as it was the day it all had happened. Shattered glass covered the floor, and the carpet was damp from the rain that had poured through the window. There was a cold draft in the room. Shivering, Dan walked forward, his shoes crunching on the broken glass. He looked down at the floor and was surprised to see a small slip of paper with words written on it. Recognizing the handwriting at once as Phil's, Dan quickly read the note.  
"Dear Dan,  
By the time you read this I'll already be gone. Thanks for always being there for me. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you. Don't blame yourself. I knew that I was close to dying. I could feel it, like someone was pulling at my chest, making me anxious. Sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to worry you. I don't know how I'm going to die, of course, but I'm sure I'll find out when it happens. Don't be sad, please. But remember me, okay, Dan?  
Goodbye, Dan.  
Phil Lester."  
Dan's felt new tears well up in his eyes as he read the note again. Phil was right. He didn't need to be upset, because the cold truth of it all was that being sad about it wouldn't bring Phil back. Phil didn't want Dan to be upset. So Dan moved on.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry. I hope you enjoyed. My twitter is @aliensaucers. Feel free to give me feedback on there.


End file.
